San Clemente driver Connor De Phillippi completed his sensational debut in the 2013 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland Championship by winning the series' Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland Rookie of the Year award Oct. 20 at the season finale Hockenheimring in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Coming into the season finale at Hockenheimring, De Phillippi had a virtually insurmountable 24-point lead in the rookie classification and was the only driver in the series to complete every race of the season.

As fate would have it, Round 17 would be the first race of the series De Phillippi and his Roboscan Internet Security Porsche GT3 did not finish, as a spin-out in wet conditions on the 10th of 17 laps ended his bid for his first podium finish.

“There are certainly mixed feelings about today,” De Phillippi, who finished 11th in Round 16 at Hockenheim on Oct. 19, stated in a release. “As far as the championship goes, the team did an amazing job and we finished every race, until the final one today. We started in P3 (third place) and I ran in P2 most of my race. However, with the tricky track conditions out there, all it took was one small mistake on the exit of turn one and my race and chance at a podium finish was over. It's frustrating to end the season with my first DNF, but overall, my consistency over the course of the full season paid off.”

A former open-wheel competitor who had raced the Mazda Road series with designs on moving up to IndyCar, De Phillippi was selected to compete for one of two positions as a Porsche Junior driver in late 2012 and began the quest to prove himself in the Porsche Junior Program that officially started in early May 2013 at Hockenheim.

From the get-go, De Phillippi realized the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland was a premier championship, with some of the best sports-car racers in the world.

But, De Phillippi, a member of the FORCH Racing/Lukas Motorsports team, proved from the first green flag that he had the ability to compete with drivers who had more than five years of experience in the Porsche GT3 Cup car.

He finished ninth overall with 116 points and sealed the Rookie of the Year race by 11 points.

His best finish of the year was fourth place in Round 14 at Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands on Sept. 28. He finished in the top 10 in 10 races and had a streak six top-10 showings from June 2-Aug. 17.

For Round 16, De Phillippi was able to qualify in P4, but race officials declared that several drivers, including De Phillippi, were guilty of track-limit infringement. His P4 starting spot was negated and he was forced to start back in P16.

De Phillippi still managed to post a lap time quick enough to put him in P3 for the season finale the next day, where he managed to get as high as P2 in the race before losing control on a turn and hitting the rain-slick synthetic grass.

User Agreement

Keep it civil and stay on topic. No profanity, vulgarity, racial
slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about
tragedies will be blocked. By posting your comment, you agree to
allow Orange County Register Communications, Inc. the right to
republish your name and comment in additional Register publications
without any notification or payment.